Backing up a Gen Trailer

[Too many Kubotas]

It's not really a matter of how many wheels it has but if it's a common semi trailer or a pull (aka full) trailer.

Those extra pivot points is what gets me in trouble, especially with doubles. And I wouldn't even dream of trying to back up triples.

 

[WinterDeere]

I will say that for anyone who is really good at backing up semi trailers, getting a pull trailer and learning to back it up is an initially-humbling experience. I've been doing the latter the last 6-8 years, and have actually gotten very good at it, as I need to back one around a very tight 90-degree turn to where I park it. The only trouble now is when I hook up a boat trailer, which should be dead-easy to back around, I get my brain double-crossed again by the pull trailer!

I used to tease that I could do a slalom course in reverse at speed with a boat trailer, but after so many years with a pull trailer, I'm not sure that's true anymore. Everyone knows steering is reversed with a semi trailer, but with a pull trailer it's reversed a second time, so to speak. Easy once you get the hang of it, but going back and forth initially ruins any muscle memory, and puts you back to having to think about what you're doing.

 

[civilian]

Some of those pull trailers (with a tongue) have pins to look them straight or chains to hold them straight when backing. Jon

 

[WinterDeere]

Going straight is pretty easy, actually. So is making a turn. It's swinging the thing back out of a hard turn, without stopping to pull forward and straighten out, that's the big challenge with these.

Once you get all of that, which you will (not impossible), then the next challenge is to do it without turning the tractor wheel over so hard that your rear inside tire spins ruining your lawn in wet autumn conditions. That's my current challenge, anyway.



As to backing up a generator, if I can do the above twice per month all winter long with 2000+ lb. of wood in a pull trailer, I can't imagine not being able to back up a generator on a semi trailer.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

The only trouble now is when I hook up a boat trailer, which should be dead-easy to back around, I get my brain double-crossed again by the pull trailer!

Your skills with a pull trailer are very impressive, I think. I sure couldn't park it in such close quarters. Part of that is probably that I only use mine a couple of times per year.

One thing I'm very used to is backing up regular (semi) trailers, but...that only works well when I'm using the mirrors. As soon as I turn around to look, it goes sideways.

That's my secret weapon for being able to back up a pull trailer. By looking behind me my brain gets double crossed and it works much better.

 

[WinterDeere]

That's funny, as I know what you mean, but I'm the dead-opposite. I learned to back up looking behind me, and while I can do it with only mirrors if I have to, it's not nearly as easy for me.

Since so much of my trailering experience is with boats (moving boat trailers since before I could legally drive), I can say the worst is an empty boat trailer without a mast stand or whips visible from your mirrors. Totally blind, at least before backup cameras, until the think is well into a turn. Having a pickup truck hitch rigged so that you can pull the trailer with the tailgate down is key to backing an empty trailer down a ramp for boat retrieval.

<-- used to race dry-sailed boats every weekend

 

[Too many Kubotas]

That's funny, as I know what you mean, but I'm the dead-opposite. I learned to back up looking behind me, and while I can do it with only mirrors if I have to, it's not nearly as easy for me.

Sometimes using the mirrors is the only option.

 

[WinterDeere]

Your trailers are quite a bit bigger than mine!

 

[Too many Kubotas]

Those are only 28 and 24 feet respectively. But noticeably taller than yours, even though the dry van has an 18" chop from stock.

Had a 40-foot gooseneck flatbed for a while, but now it's down to a 32', and the longest being the 38' toy hauler.

 

[WinterDeere]

Cool. That landscape trailer used for hauling logs is 20 feet. The larger boat trailer is something like 27-28 feet with mast down.